Secretary’s wrap

It’s great to see Blue Mountains MP Trish Doyle continuing to stand up for rail and advocating for passenger safety.

Last week she called for the NIF contract with South Korean consortium Hyundai Rotem to be cancelled, based on ongoing reports of critical structural flaws in trains designed by the consortium in the US.

Sydney Trains cancelled the proposed Future Operations delegates forum, deciding that further work was needed and the savings they had originally alluded to were not there. We are yet to find out if Sydney Trains intend to walk away from all the work undertaken over the past 19 months or continue the process alongside the Sydney Trains EA discussions when they commence.

In Pacific National news, negotiations continue at a frustratingly slow pace across both Intermodal and Rural and Bulk (including Coal). PN’s strategy seems to be to frustrate rather than negotiate – and it looks like this is also occurring in Victoria, where a number of significant, outstanding matters have led to our counterparts in the Victorian Loco Division announcing they will be undertaking protected industrial action. You’ll find more on this via Loco Express.

Stay safe on the tracks,

Bob Hayden

Loco Division Secretary